


The kid

by andpeggyy



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Developing Relationship, Family Drama, Family Feels, Gen, M/M, Teen Angst, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-23 04:44:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11395599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andpeggyy/pseuds/andpeggyy
Summary: Kris' life is turned upside down when his estranged younger brother ends under his care.





	The kid

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted in my old asianfanfics.com account in 2013. It is heavily edited for mistakes, clarity and abysmal continuity errors. Hopefully it makes more sense now. Enjoy!

 

 

“Mr. Wu, how's it going?” Kris hears someone from the doorframe of his office (or hiding hole, as his friends like to call it), yet he doesn’t remember having let anyone inside his home. It’s not like it’s not an easy place to get into anyways.

 

“Who let you in, you asshole?” he asks, but there’s no real malice in his voice. He stands up to give Kyungsoo a hug, carefully avoiding his computer. It’d be the icing on the cake if he suddenly unplugs it and the thing dies on him along with his three hundred-page-draft.

 

“I have my ways,” Kyungsoo admits, and Kris is too afraid to ask. It’s not like he’s going to steal something, he’s known about the Do’s hefty bank account since the first day he stepped foot in this town. Kyungsoo smiles and then gives him a look he’s already grown accustomed to, “I heard about what happened from Yixing.”

 

“Ah, yeah, I– I don’t…” he ruffles his own hair. He should really wash it, it’s getting kinda gross. “How’s the city? Are you sick of it yet?”

 

Kyungsoo doesn’t press the matter further. Kris is grateful. “I kind of am, so I’m moving back,” he answers. He moves inside the office and sits on the couch. Kris can see the slight veil of dust on the thing and thinks about his lack of house cleaning skills. However, he follows his friend and sits next to him.

 

“Are you gonna be ok?” Kyungsoo asks then, and grabs Kris’ shoulder like he used to when they were back in high school and Kris had hose rare moments of nostalgia. Kyungsoo has always known how to calm him down.

 

“I’ll be fine,” he assures Kyungsoo. “Are you back in town for good?”

 

His friend smiles at him. “For a while, yeah. It’s not everyday you get to see the famous Kris Wu freaking out about what color the walls of a teenager’s bedroom should be.”

 

-

 

Kris Wu is a writer, a successful one at that. He writes romance novels that are well received by the public. Everyone loves his happy endings filled with anticipation and emotion. Maybe he’s good at it, he thinks, because he feels he’ll never get one of those himself. His life, though filled with love given by his mother, has not been the easiest emotionally.

 

This is how it goes: His mother divorces his father when he is still a child, and drags him to the other side of the world to start anew. He leaves everything behind; his school, his friends, his family – all he has ever known.

 

He never sees his father again but in sturdy, carefully signed monthly checks directed at his mother.

 

His father remarries not long after that and Kris, some years after, learns about the birth of a brother after hearing something over the phone by mistake. He doesn’t ask his mother about it and he goes without knowing the name of the kid or where they live for years.

 

They move to a small town, and live in a large house by the lake where the community is small, but close-knit.

 

He hears his mother cry every now and again, huddled alone in a bedroom much to big for one person, and Kris gets up from his bed and sleeps by her side, making sure she doesn’t feel alone.

 

He meets some of his best friends in his new school. They don’t mind his inability to speak the language or the fact that he doesn’t have a father.

 

“It’s ok,” his best friend Kyungsoo tells him months later on his school’s ‘Father & Son Day.’ “You can use my dad.” Mr. Do, having heard the conversation, smiles and grabs Kris’ hand along with Kyungsoo’s.

 

He fills his life with extracurricular activities, sleepovers and secret handshakes that make everything he’s going through a little better.

 

“Is middle school scary?” Jongin asks him one summer day, years later. It’s getting colder, he notices; fall rapidly approaching. They have two cups joined by a string which they spent an entire afternoon trying to place between their tree houses in their own backyards. Jongin’s tree house is a tad smaller than his, but he thinks his own tree house will never be as pretty.

 

“It’s not,” he answers. “And if you find it scary, then you can always come to me or Kyungsoo or Yixing.”

 

“Minseok told me they make you pick teams for P.E. and that if you get chosen last, they make fun of you.”

 

“I won’t let anyone make fun of you, Jongin. And Minseok goes to high school, it’s different there.” He tries to give Jongin his best smile through the small window amidst the wood to reassure him. Jongin smiles back and Kris feels accomplished.

 

The rest of his school years go by faster than he expected. He comes to terms with the fact that he’s not like other boys. He doesn’t stare creepily at girls when they wear shorts or style their hair or put on make up. He sneakily glances at the guys on the football field and steals glimpses at the very male president of the student council.

 

“It’s not something you should be ashamed of,” Minseok, already in college, says to him on the day of Kris’ graduation. He puts his arms around his waist and gives him a gentle nudge. “And if anyone makes you feel like you’re not worth it because of it, then I’ll personally shove my foot up their asses.”

 

That day, they end up laughing, drunk out of their minds spread across the grass in the local park along with Kyungsoo, Yixing, and Luhan, Minseok’s boyfriend.

 

He thinks he should be happy; he should be content with his life, his friends and the incredible acceptance his mother gave him when he came out to her. However, there’s this increasing loneliness lodged into his system that he can’t seem to shake off.

 

He continues his life like all of his friends. He moves to a dorm room on campus and college becomes a time for self-discovery. He reaffirms his dislike for all parts feminine and ends up in a series of short flings with memorable and regrettable men.

 

On his last year of college he finds out about his mother’s illness.

 

He takes a semester off and moves back home.

 

He spends her last days with her on the living room, where he sets up a comfortable bed that looks out to the lake she has always loved. It’s frozen and snow falls heavily outside the window but she still smiles as she takes her son’s hand in her own.

 

He holds her tightly and lets his tears fall carelessly, as she lies with her eyes closed, cold to the touch.

 

“She was an amazing woman,” Yixing says on the day of the funeral. There aren’t many people. Kris only invites those he considers family. “I remember her giving us hangover medicine when woke up after a day of partying.” He laughs, holding back tears. “She even sat to drink with us a few times, and she might as well have been one of us.”

 

“It was especially entertaining when she embarrassed Kris in front of us,” Jongin admits. “I’ll never forget how she took care of me and Minseok after our own mom passed away. We were at her table every night for dinner for over a year.”

 

Minseok just stares at the floor and holds Luhan’s hand tighter, biting back a sob.

 

“She was incredibly strong and an example for us all on how to enjoy life even after it has treated you wrongly. I only hope she’s at peace now,” Kyungsoo finishes. He leaves the stand and hugs Kris tightly.

 

Kris inherits the house and spends his last semester of college without stepping foot inside of it.

 

“You can’t let it rot, Kris,” Minseok tells him sprawled in Kyungsoo’s bed inside their dorm room. He’d been helping Kris with an assignment and took Kyungsoo’s lack of presence to take over the latter’s bed. “You know how she loved that house.”

 

So here he is, an English lit major with a house too big for one person, about to become too big for two. Again.

 

-

 

“Have you talked to him?” Minseok asks him. He doesn’t take his eyes away from Lilly in the stroller, the cutest baby girl Kris has ever seen.

 

“No,” Kris sighs. “What am I supposed to say? Hey, kid, I’m sorry our dad flaked out on you and you’re stuck with the brother you’ve never met in a foreign country.”

 

“Uh, no. How about telling him you’re actually happy he’s decided to come instead of living with his too old grandparents? That you even set up a room for him with everything he needs?” Minseok takes a bottle from his bag and gives it to his little girl.

 

“I don’t know. I mean, he’s my brother, but we’re basically strangers.”

 

Kris shuffles his feet on the couch they are sitting on. Minseok pushes the stroller back and forward, a tired look on his face. This new baby thing must be getting to him, Kris thinks.

 

“Well, you’ll have to get to know each other eventually,” he says and tries to blink always the sleepiness, to no avail. Kris can’t help but smile.

 

“I guess.”

 

Minseok officially falls asleep on the couch just as Lilly starts fidgeting on the stroller. Kris picks her up, careful not wake up the new Dad, and holds her in his arms, just like Luhan had demonstrated a few weeks ago when she first arrived at her new home. She looks at him with her big brown eyes as he rocks her.

 

“You’ve made so many people really happy, baby girl,” he tells her in a quiet whisper. “Let’s hope welcoming another kid does the same.”

 

 

-

 

The airport is bustling with people as Kris holds a sign with the name ‘Sehun Oh’ in his messy handwriting. The flight from London, where Sehun had apparently been living since he was five, had landed over thirty minutes ago.

 

He looks around hoping to spot him until he realizes he hasn’t seen a picture of Sehun since the boy was 10. And that was only because he’d caught glimpse of a social event coverage in a British newspaper.

 

“Yifan?” A scrawny looking boy with pink hair snaps him out of his thoughts. Pink freaking hair.

 

“Uhm, I’m just Kris, actually,” he says and the boy gives him a sheepish look.

 

“Oh, sorry.”

 

And Kris is left without words. He has no idea how to talk to a teenager. The last teenager he knew was Jongin, and he’s already finishing university now.

 

“It’s ok. I just– Are you hungry?” He asks.

 

“Yeah. Starving, really,” Sehun nods and Kris breathes a little easier.

 

He takes the big suitcase from his brother’s hands and starts walking slowly, hoping Sehun follows him.

 

“Nice,” he adds. “The weather.”

 

Sehun hums noncommittally.

 

“Was the trip ok?” Kris tries again.

 

“Long,” he answers.

 

It doesn’t go much further than that, and Kris feels this is going to be more difficult than he thought.

 

Maybe his friends can help; Yixing works with teens everyday so he should know. Or so he hopes.

 

-

 

“He has this permanent ‘I’m not amused’ look on his face. I have no fucking clue what to do now,” he whispers over the phone in his bedroom. He has no idea why he’s not speaking in a normal tone, it’s not like the kid can hear him.

 

“That kinda reminds me of someone, to be honest,” Yixing mocks. “But fine, I’ll come over and help you out of this crisis. I’ll be there in twenty.” He hangs up and Kris throws himself on his bed and groans loudly.

 

While waiting for Yixing he paces around his room, afraid of leaving it and bumping into Sehun.

 

The boy has been pretty quiet since they got home a few days ago. From the airport they had gone to get some fast food, Kris afraid of diving into more local cuisine since he’s not sure what Sehun likes or dislikes (although he’s reluctant to believe anyone would hate having some good bacon.) They barely said a word to each other the entire time. When they got home, Kris showed him his room hoping it was to the kid’s liking. He had spent more than necessary time getting that room together and had even asked Baekhyun for help. The Interiors Designer had done an amazing job but it cost Kris a night out. It took him an entire day to get rid of that hangover.

 

He’s brought back from his reminiscing by a knock on his bedroom door. “Come in,” he says after clearing his throat.

 

“Where is he?” Yixing asks excitedly as he enters.

 

“Wait, how did you get in?”

 

“Magic,” he winks. Kris makes a face to show his aversion to Yixing’s greasiness.

 

“Gross. Sehun’s in his room.”

 

They go outside to the backyard, where he sees the old tree house is actually falling apart. Kris doesn’t have the heart to bring it down, too many memories encompassed in that tiny space.

 

“So, I guess blood runs deep, huh?” Yixing sips his beer noiselessly as he Facebook stalks Sehun’s pictures.

 

Sitting comfortably with a cold beer, Kris looks at the lake. It must be swarming with fishes; he should bring out Kyungsoo’s dad one of these days.

 

“Shut up. What am I supposed to do? I think he’s afraid of even looking at me,” Kris sighs.

 

“Well, you do have a pretty scary face,” Yixing jokes. Or maybe he doesn’t, Kris can’t really read him sometimes.

 

“I’m not scary,” he whines.

 

“Once people get know you they realize how wrong they were about you, but you definitely give off the wrong first impression,” he explains. “Remember when you first met Luhan?”

 

Oh, he wishes he didn’t. Minseok had to train Kris on ‘how to not look like a serial killer’ because Luhan seemed afraid of him every time they met. “Let’s pretend that never happened.”

 

“Have you tried talking to him?”

 

Kris finishes his bottle and goes out to the minibar to get another one. He wonders if Sehun likes beer or if he has even tried it before. “He reminds me of him,” he mutters, looking at his beer intently.

 

“Who?” Kris gives a dejected look. “Oh. Have you thought about the fact that you look a whole lot like your dad too, and that you remind Sehun of him as well?”

 

In fact, Kris hadn’t thought about it. “I’m not sure I can do this, Xing.”

 

“Give it a few more days.” Yixing gets up and heads to the dock at the edge of the lake. Kris follows him, beer in hand.

 

“What if he’s unhappy here? What if he actually hates me?”

 

Yixing takes off his shoes and sits in the brink of the dock, dunking his feet in the cold water. “Like I said, give it time. You weren’t very happy the first few days you got here. I still remember you crying because we didn’t have red bean ice cream.”

 

Kris smiles. “Until my mom found the Chinese shop a few towns over.”

 

“See? He’s a teenager. He’s had a tough week; hell, a tough year,” Yixing reasons. “Now, in the meantime let’s give Jongin a call. Maybe he can help with the teen angst.”

 

-

 

Jongin laughs at his face.

 

“I’m not some teen expert, if you haven’t noticed. I didn’t deal with kids, I was just one of them,” Jongin argues as he places a hand on Kris’ shoulder. “I’m really sorry, man.”

 

Kris groans. “You are the closest thing to a teenager I know.”

 

“I’m almost 22, Kris. I haven’t been one in a while.” Jongin roams around the kitchen like he owns it looking through cabinets and cupboards. “However, I can make some pretty awesome fried fish.”

 

“How can fried fish actually help?”

 

“Isn’t fish and chips like England’s national dish or something? Food works wonders, Kris.”

 

“Fine.”

 

“Let’s head to the store to get the rest of what we need. I’m sure Sehun would enjoy a dish from home instead of cold pizza.”

 

“Ok, I’ll go get Sehun.”

 

He walks to the kid’s room and shifts for about two minutes before knocking. “Sehun, you in there?” He doesn’t hear an answer, so he just walks in. He remembers how much he hated when his mom did that to him.

 

Sehun is lying on the bed, fully clothed and asleep. His suitcase is on the floor, yet to be fully unpacked. The computer is on and Kris can see the screen on some nonsensical social networking site. He goes to the bed and sits next to the boy.

 

“Sehun. Hey,” he half-whispers while nudging him a little.

 

“Dad?” Sehun grunts. Kris feels a pang on his chest. The kid must be confused, what with all the moving around.

 

“No, Sehun. It’s me, Kris. Yifan.”

 

Sehun must have realized his mistake then, because he gets up from the bed quickly and tries fixing his tussled hair. “Sorry,” he says.

 

“It’s ok.”

 

Jongin decides to come into the room that moment. He looks around it. “Like what you did with the place. Looks a lot better than a smelly old gym that was never, ever, ever, ever used.” Sehun looks, as per usual, not amused. Kris looks annoyed. “Wow, you two are like copies of each other,” Jongin states, looking from one to the other really fast.

 

“Hey,” Kris ignores him and glances at Sehun. “We’re gonna go to the supermarket. Wanna come?”

 

Kris thinks for a minute that Sehun will say no and go back to sleep, but he’s surprised when the boy agrees.

 

“Ok,” Sehun adds.

 

“Ok,” Kris choirs and leaves the room hoping Sehun, once again, follows him.

 

The food trip starts and ends with only a handful of words uttered between the brothers. Kris asks Sehun if he likes this fruit or that pasta any chance he gets, but Sehun seems to be a man of few words, only nodding from time to time or asking if he can take this or that. Kris feels defeated.

 

“He’s just warming up to the whole change,” Jongin offers as consolation. “It takes time, Kris.”

 

 _How much time can this take?_ Kris asks himself. He needs to get back to his book and he needs to find Sehun a good school and he needs to fix the tree house outside before winter. He doesn’t have much time to spare to chitchat and get to know a kid who doesn’t seem to like him at all.

 

He swallows his thoughts because no one needs to hear them, especially not Sehun. He’s been through enough already; Kris doesn’t want to burden him with anything else.

 

And so the dinner turns into more of a polite conversation instead of a bonding time and Jongin leaves after telling Kris to hang in there.

 

“It’ll get better,” he reassures Kris.

 

“I hope so.” Kris hugs him goodbye and heads to bed.

 

-

 

When it comes to people asking about his dad, Kris usually says he’s past away or that he and his mother divorced when he was young and lives on the other side of the country. He’s not about to explain to a random person the details of his sob story. Plus, he’s accepted the fact the he doesn’t have a father but two father figures that come in the shape of Kyungsoo’s and Minseok and Jongin’s dads. They’ve been there for him more than his own father, so he has no issues regarding the topic.

 

Seeing Sehun, who looks quite a bit like him, brings back memories of days at the park and walks on the beach. He thought it would somehow make him sad or troubled.

 

It didn’t.

 

It only made him happier to have had a childhood with two wonderful men who supported and encouraged him.

 

He’s actually surprised himself by being ok.

 

He’s ok.

 

He only hopes Sehun will come to terms with the fact that he’s as alone as Kris when it comes to parents.

 

-

 

Summer is coming to an end, and that means school is starting.

 

Kris spends three weeks looking at curriculums and locations before enrolling Sehun in a nearby private school that used to be his own and where Kyungsoo just got a job. He would have asked Sehun’s opinion but they barely say good morning to each other, and he figures Sehun already has experience with private school so he puts it in the back of his mind only to be forgotten.

 

It’s not like they spend time around each other so the opportunity never presents itself. The kid spends about 90% of his waking hours sitting in front of the computer chatting and doing god knows what with his friends. Kris buys him his favorite books so they can talk about them, he gets him interesting magazines and downloads all the new hip music, but Sehun barely leaves his bedroom.

 

“Have you tried talking to him?” Kyungsoo asks later that afternoon when he stops by for a visit.

 

They are sitting in the kitchen, Jongin eating a sandwich Kris made him, Sehun having gone back to his room with his after Kris had offered him a bite to eat as well.

 

“Everyone keeps telling me that but he’s a statue,” Kris deadpans. He sits in front of Kyungsoo on one of the chairs by the counter.

 

Kyungsoo stares at Kris and then, “He’s you.”

 

Kris laughs and pats him in the back. “No, he’s… shut up.”

 

“Don’t shoot the messenger,” Kyungsoo defends himself as he punches Kris on the shoulder. “Hey, I think I have an idea.”

 

“Do I want to hear it? Your ideas don’t have a very good track record.”

 

Kyungsoo decides to ignore that comment. “Remember when you had a hard time settling in and my dad and Minseok’s dad took us camping?” Kyungsoo sips his coke.

 

Kris smiles at his friend. “Are you saying you want me to take Sehun camping? The closest he’s probably been to mud is while playing polo.”

 

“No. He doesn’t look the camping type. But I remember you were dying to go because of that movie we’d seen. Maybe you should find something that’s like that for him.”

 

Kris sighs. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

 

“Oh, have you seen Lilly lately? She’s sitting on her own now.” Kyungsoo beams.

 

“Yeah, Luhan stopped by a few days ago,” Kris informs him. He smiles as he cleans the crumbs from his shirt.

 

“Minseok told me Luhan’s going back to work soon,” he says. “More of a reason to invade your next door neighbors and spoil her, don’t you think?”

 

Luhan and Minseok live right next door to Kris. They moved in when Mr. Kim decided to go to a retirement home not far from here, leaving the house to his eldest son. Kris had spent countless nights under that roof and was glad to see Minseok agreeing to moving in after Mr. Kim faked a heart attack when he initially refused.

 

“You betcha.”

 

Kyungsoo leaves some time later saying something about kids to flunk and tests to laugh at but he’s only replaced by Jongin who comes into the house running like his life is in peril. He is apparently hiding from Minseok. So Kris decides to ignore Jongin’s weirdness because his life is probably very much in peril.

 

“Help me out here, man,” he says as he takes refuge in Kris’ office as he attempts to write a bit.

 

Jongin might be an “adult” now (air quotes included) but he’s still the little boy that trailed after them every chance he could. Kris finds it endearing.

 

“What did you do, Jongin?” Kris asks him but he’s pretty sure he doesn’t want to know.

 

“I might have told Minseok about the tree house,” he confesses. The Kim’s tree house, otherwise known as Jongin’s sex shack, was home to several of Jongin’s adventurous exploits during his high school years. “He started screaming about tainting childhood memories, I don’t know.”

 

Kris hits the back of Jongin’s head. “You’re an idiot. How did you manage to do that?”

 

“It slipped when I was talking to Taemin,” he explains.

 

“You two are like dumb and dumber,” Kris sighs as he closes his laptop and stretches his arms.

 

They talk some more; Jongin wanting to wait out Minseok’s angry fit and Kris too mentally tired to keep writing. At some point Jongin starts getting upset for leaving his family, his niece and his hometown for another year. He’s always been very attached to his people.

 

“Hey, if Minseok gets tired of you visiting, you can always stay here, you know?” he says to him over a beer. “I still have my old camping tent somewhere in the basement.”

 

“Are you suggesting I sleep outside? Plus, isn’t that the tent where you and Minseok fooled around in high school?” Jongin ends up whispering the later half of that sentence, as he fake gags.

 

“Maybe.”

 

-

 

Kris has a fixed routine.

 

He gets up at 8 am everyday. He has breakfast, showers and fixes himself up all before 9 am. Then he goes into his cavern and writes as much as he’s able to, sometimes going straight through lunch if he’s in a particularly inspiring mood. In the afternoon, he goes out for a swim in the lake or exercises in the gym room when it gets too cold to go out to the water. By nighttime, he fixes dinner for himself, sometimes inviting Luhan and Minseok over, or maybe Yixing or Kyungsoo, depending on their availability or his own disposition. He goes to bed by midnight after cleaning up after himself.

 

Every day is the same and it only changes on weekends when he’s feeling a bit adventurous. His friends call him boring but he likes to think of himself as a man of habits.

 

Of course, now with Sehun, he says goodbye to all of that.

 

It starts with the kid being particularly difficult to wake up in the mornings.

 

It’s already been six weeks since he got here and Kris is so behind on his writing it’s starting to make him nervous.

 

After living alone for a while, he got used to the familiarity of silence and solitude. Maybe a bit of loneliness that he doesn’t like to think about. Now, a teenage boy has torn everything he’s grown accustomed to.

 

“Sehun,” he calls from the doorframe. “Wake up, it’s already 10 am and I got shit to do.”

 

He tried being respectful and giving him his space for as long as he could, but it’s gotten to a point where he can’t keep letting Sehun be a bum. He never wakes up before noon and stays awake until ungodly hours stuck on the computer. He eats nothing but food he gets from god knows where and drinks all of the coke in the fridge. He never finishes the meals Kris makes for him and leaves empty glasses and plates all over the house. Kris is helpless; it’s not like he can talk to him or ask him stuff because he’s not fluent in either chat speak or teenager.

 

“C’mon, kid. You need to clean up your room, it’s a mess,” Kris says too softly as he picks up dirty laundry and cleans up a bit. Sehun just snores some more.

 

He has no power over the teen.

 

However, he knows someone who might help.

 

-

 

“Rise and shine princess!” Luhan nearly yells standing right next to Sehun’s bed. “I know you’re a teenager and you need your sleep but you will clean up your room and shower and go down to speak to the humans for once.”

 

Sehun looks annoyed but with a slight pinch of fear and Kris knows this was a good idea.

 

When the boy finally agrees to clean up and leave his room for the first time in weeks, Kris let’s out a breath of relief.

 

He knows it must be difficult for him but he needs to know he has to put some sort of effort as well.

 

As Sehun goes into the shower, Luhan and Kris head to the kitchen where Minseok is starting on lunch.

 

“Did you figure out the school stuff?” Minseok asks while moving around the kitchen. Lilly is sitting on the high chair Minseok brought over from his place for lunch. Kris makes embarrassing sounds as he feeds her lunch.

 

“I enrolled him at St. Luke’s,” Kris answers. “Apparently, he even qualified for a scholarship.” He cleans Lilly’s mouth a bit before giving her another spoonful.

 

“Did he get good grades at his school?” Luhan inquires while he starts getting the cutlery out to set the table. Sehun chooses that moment to come into the kitchen, dressed like a normal person instead of wearing sweats or wife beaters at last. “Welcome to the world of actually doing crap around the house, buddy!” he coos at Sehun expertly. The boy just stares unimpressed.

 

“Here,” says Kris handing Sehun the forks and knives. He points at the table on the dining room. “If you please.”

 

Sehun gets the message and does as he’s told.

 

“He was at the top of his class,” Kris half-whispers hoping Sehun doesn’t hear him, although he’s not sure why.

 

“Wow,” Luhan says as he heads to the dining room where Sehun is standing awkwardly not knowing what to do next. “Congrats, kiddo. Now, the knives go on the right side.”

 

Lunch goes by uneventfully. They talk some, laugh some, and try to include Sehun as much as they can, to the latter’s reluctance to say a word. He just focuses on Lilly and her giggling.

 

Kris thinks he might be just really shy or perhaps he just dislikes being here so much he’s unwilling to form a sentence.

 

He’s hard to decipher.

 

-

 

The first day of school comes faster than he expected.

 

He drops Sehun off and the boy barely says two words to him. He’d tried to start conversations all weekend only to be shut down every time. He doesn’t try it again. If Sehun needs more space then Kris will not invade it. Space seems to be the only thing he can give right now.

 

“I’ll pick you up at 4,” Kris yells at him from the car and Sehun nods before walking inside the building.

 

He leaves for home and wonders if Sehun would rather get a driver’s license and drive himself to school. He ponders for a minute until he realizes he’s been at the same intersection and he’s creating traffic behind him.

 

Groaning, he keeps driving in hopes of coming up with something to fix this whole situation but the minute he parks in his driveway he get gets a call from the school telling him Sehun’s gotten into a fight and that they need his presence immediately.

 

He hits his head on the steering wheel repeatedly before heading back to where he came from.

  

“I can assure you this won’t happen again,” Kris says as he leaves the Dean’s office.

 

“The only reason I’m not expelling him on the spot is because I had great affection for your mother, Kris,” he explains.

 

“I understand. Again, I apologize.”

 

He exits the room and goes to find Sehun outside the counselor’s office a few doors down.

 

He nursing a black eye and a few scratches, and he’s pretty sure the other kid looks perfectly fine because he was twice Sehun’s size and on the wrestling team. Sehun is still a skinny thing that barely reaches his shoulder.

 

“What in the hell were you thinking–”

 

“You must be Sehun’s brother,” the counselor interrupts.

 

“Oh,” Kris feels embarrassed. “Hi, yeah. I’m Kris Wu.”

 

“You are dismissed, Sehun. Go back to your classes,” the counselor tells him and Sehun obeys without a word. He picks up his backpack and dusts off his pants. Kris remembers how much he hated the uniform the school was so keen on making you wear to their standards. Perfectly ironed khakis and navy blue blazer, a pristine white shirt and striped rosewood and goldenrod tie. Not to mention the ugly sweater.

 

“We’ll talk when you get home,” Kris warns the teen before he scurries off to his classroom. Sehun mutters a ‘whatever’ as he walks toward the hall. “I’m really sorry about all of this.”

 

“You don’t have to apologize,” the man smiles and Kris feels his knees giving in a little. “I’m Junmyeon.”

 

When thinking about the counselor when he was at this school, he imagined Junmyeon to be a bald, middle-aged fat man desperate to never deal with another teenager again in his life. But Junmyeon hardly fits the description. The man is most likely his own age and very, very handsome. His smile is blinding and his eyes pretty. Kris is probably staring.

 

“Kris,” he says. “But I had already said that, sorry.” He attempts not to blush.

 

Junmyeon laughs. “To be perfectly honest, I’m not the counselor. She’s actually coming back in a few weeks from her maternity leave. I’m just filling in for her,” he explains. He pulls one of the chairs on his desk for Kris to sit down.

 

“Oh. Do you not work at the school then?”

 

“Actually–“

 

“Junmyeon, would you get me the papers for the Williams kid?” The Dean asks through the intercom at it’s so loud you can hear it from the hallway. Junmyeon apologizes before he begrudgingly says goodbye.

 

“Rain check?”

 

“Sure,” Kris smiles.

 

-

 

By the time Sehun and Kris settle into an acceptable routine, the kid seems to be more willing to respond to Kris’ attempts at being brotherly.

 

Still, Kris feels he has been walking on his tiptoes around Sehun for as long as he’s been here.

 

Sehun only seems to be not miserable the few times Minseok or Luhan are around with Lilly, and Kris can’t help but feel a pang of jealousy as they talk for hours about anything and everything while Sehun barely acknowledges his presence.

 

After one particularly chatty afternoon, Minseok goes to talk to Kris in the kitchen where he likes to take refuge when anyone is around. He’d taken Lilly with him this time so he wouldn’t be so alone.

 

“Hi,” Minseok says.

 

“Hey,” Kris answers as he hands Lilly over.

 

He doesn’t blame them for anything, in fact he’s thankful Sehun’s talking to someone even though he’d rather that one person to be him.

 

“Jongin is coming down for the weekend so we’re having a barbecue.”

 

“Cool. I’ll let Kyungsoo know.”

 

“Already done, my friend.” He pats Kris in the back before reminding him to bring beer and a cheery disposition. “Don’t let the teen bite you.”

 

-

 

Three days later, Kris runs into Junmyeon again, and while he’s still worried about Sehun and his fading black eye, he finds that as long as Sehun stays out of trouble, he’ll not push him into anything he doesn’t want.

 

He drops his brother off with a, “Don’t punch anyone today, ok?”

 

Sehun answers with a groan and slams the car door with less strength every day.

 

“Early morning?” someone says from the driver’s window and Kris nearly has a heart attack.

 

“Jesus Christ, you scared me.” It’s Junmyeon, dressed in a nice white button down and slacks. He oddly reminds Kris of his college literature professor.

 

“I’m sorry,” he smiles. “Dropping off Sehun?”

 

“Yeah.” Kris sighs.

 

“Did you have breakfast already?”

 

“Yes,” Kris answers before thinking and Junmyeon looks a bit disappointed. “But I could go for some coffee.”

 

“There’s a diner across the street.” If Kris didn’t know any better he’d think Junmyeon’s bit nervous, but he scratches the thought right away. He parks the car and walks by Junmyeon’s side.

 

The coffee is nice, the company even better. Kris can’t help but smile the entire outing as Junmyeon tells him about his time working at a fast food restaurant when he was in college.

 

“So how’s everything with Sehun? Are there any more victims to his reign of terror?”

 

“Things have been ok, I think,” Kris chuckles. He’s still curious about Junmyeon and wonder, or hopes really, that he’s right when he asks, “Are you by any chance Jongin’s Junmyeon?”

 

“You know Jongin?” Junmyeon looks pleasantly surprised at the mention of Jongin’s name.

 

Kris smiles as he recalls the many stories his friend had to share. “So you’re the famous Junmyeon that helped him ace Intro to Psychology at his college,” Kris suddenly remembers. ”You must have the patience of a saint to be able to do that.”

 

“Not really,” Junmyeon laughs. “Jongin’s a great kid. I was his T.A. and he needed help not getting drunk every weekend at parties. We still hang out a lot. He told me he’s coming down for a few days?”

 

“Yeah. Long weekend.” Kris shifts in his position. “Jongin’s brother, Minseok, is having a barbecue this Sunday,” he comments. “Wanna come?”

 

He doesn’t know what possessed him to ask Junmyeon since he’s quite sure they don’t know each other enough to invite each other to friends’ gatherings. If, or actually when, Junmyeon says no, he thinks, he can pretend this never happened and run form the diner to go lock himself in his office and wallow.

 

“Sure,” the man smiles. Kris does the same.

 

“Great.”

 

“Oh, shit. I have to get going now but, do you like videogames?” Junmyeon asks out of nowhere.

 

Kris is confused. “Videogames?”

 

“Yeah, you know, like Call of Duty, The Last of Us,” Junmyeon affirms.

 

“Uhm, sure. Yeah.”

 

“Ok.” Junmyeon stands up, ready to leave. “See you around, Kris.”

 

Kris just stands there not knowing what had actually happened.

 

-

 

“Hey, Yifan,” Sehun calls about five minutes after he gets home from school. Kris is in the kitchen, trying to figure out the whole scene from that morning. Junmyeon had been Jongin’s ticket to not flunking freshman year. Junmyeon had said yes to the barbecue. Junmyeon is weird. Junmyeon asks really strange questions.

 

When he glances at Sehun he can see he looks a bit anxious. He has a hopeful look on his face that Kris finds endearing.

 

“Kris, Sehun. My name is Kris,” he gently corrects the kid.

 

“Hey, uhm, wanna play some…uh, videogames?” Oh.

 

Swallowing the urge to grin like a maniac, he shrugs nonchalantly. “Yeah, definitely,” he answers.

 

Sehun gives him a small smile as he leaves to set up the gaming console on the big TV in the family room. Kris takes cans of coke and some snacks, and settles on the couch.

 

They play the rest of the afternoon, focused and competitive, and while they don’t actually say many words, they bask in each other’s presence. That is more than enough for Kris.

 

-

 

When the week ends, Kris had managed to hold three relatively full conversations with Sehun. He’s left impressed by how much Sehun is actually aware of and he realizes how eager he is to actually talk to the boy. He finds out he’s a big Barcelona FC fan and that he excels in literature classes as well as English.

 

“Well, I _am_ from England. I have to set the example,” he jokes once and Kris just laughs and punches him lightly in the shoulder.

 

“Show off,” he tells him.

 

Kris wonders if Junmyeon may have talked Sehun into actively trying to further develop their relationship. Maybe he’s blackmailing the teen, maybe he’s bribing him, he thinks, because from knowing Sehun these past few months, there’s no way he would have initiated acknowledgment of humans or actual conversations without a nudge or two.

 

Maybe Junmyeon is an alien and he implanted some sort of chip inside Sehun.

 

Maybe he’s a demon and now Sehun is possessed by Junmyeon’s evil spirit.

 

What is he?

 

“What’s who?” Minseok asks.

 

They’re in Minseok’s backyard, barbecue started and beers cold.

 

Kris looks startled for a moment. He didn’t even realize he had actually said the words outloud. “Uh, Junmye– I mean, nothing. Who?”

 

“Well,” Minseok says, stretching the word with a knowing smile. “’Junm–I mean nothing’ told Jongin he’s on his way so no need to be all anxious and shit.” Kris wants to slap himself.

 

It’s not the first time he’s caught himself thinking about Junmyeon. And it feels silly, but he can’t help it.

 

First, it was his teeth. He couldn’t stop thinking about Junmyeon’s teeth and how they were so white and perfect and did he get braces as a child? Maybe his dad is a dentist or he’s just gifted with awesome teeth genes. And before he knew it, he was asking his editor what kind of toothpaste he used.

 

Then it was his eyes. Did he get them from his mother or father? Maybe it’s a combination of both his parents. Does he use glasses? Oh, he would look good in glasses. He hasn’t seen him wearing them but there’s always contacts…

 

And it goes on and on.

 

“Why do you look so flustered?” Kyungsoo asks him holding a sleeping Lilly in his arms.

 

“I think Kris has a tiny crush,” Minseok tells Kyungsoo in a stage whisper. Kyungsoo smiles widely.

 

“I’m not a pre-teen, thank you very much,” Kris defends himself.

 

“You do live with a teenage boy. I’d be careful, that shit’s contagious,” Kyungsoo warns him as he rocks Lilly.

 

“Speaking of teenagers. Where’s Sehun?” Minseok wonders as he flips the meat on the grill.

 

Kris looks around and sees nothing.

 

Luhan decides to join them then, and hands Minseok some burgers to cook. “Are you looking for Sehun?” He asks Kris.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“I think he’s up in the tree house.” Luhan smiles tenderly and points at the construction at the edge of the backyard. Minseok shudders a bit and Luhan rolls his eyes. “Get over it, old man,” he tells his husband.

 

Kris thinks maybe the boy needs some space. This is the first time they all got together in a while and it can be an overwhelming scene for someone new. He definitely remembers how Luhan used to be around them until he punched Kris that one time and they settled into a comfortable relationship.

 

Kris hums and then wonders why Junmyeon is late, but he swallows the thought once the man enters the yard, six pack in hand and Jongin in tow.

 

“Hello, old people,” Jongin salutes. “I found a stray outside and decided to bring him along. It’s my lord and savior, Junmyeon!”

 

Junmyeon laughs until his eyes are pretty half moons. He pleasantly greets everyone and takes his place right next to Kris.

 

Kris can’t complain.

 

About an hour passes between enjoyable conversation and hefty laughter. Kris learns a lot about Junmyeon in the more than necessary questions his friends ask him. Turns out Junmyeon graduated in Psychology with a minor in History. Besides temporarily working at the school, he works part-time at the community center in town and enjoys reading, having been taught by his father to appreciate the written art. Kris hopes he hasn’t read any of his books.

 

When the conversation dies down, Junmyeon looks at Kris and Kris suddenly wants to tuck the rebel hairs on Junmyeon’s forehead.

 

“So, how’s everything with Sehun?” He asks.

 

“Well, if I’m guessing correctly, your evil plan worked,” Kris admits, smile tugging at his lips.

 

Junmyeon grins. “Some gentle nudging always works. Where is he right now? He must be hungry.”

 

Kris thought about going up to the tree and giving him a plate with food, but decided against it since he didn’t want to interrupt him. Maybe Kris was a little afraid of ruining anything sort of relationship they’ve built so far by nagging.

 

Junmyeon notices Kris’ conflicted look. “You should go to him,” he tells Kris. “Don’t be a wuss. I won’t be around forever, you know.” Kris fervently hopes that’s not true, but he gets the meaning.

 

The Kim’s tree house is located in the biggest tree of the property, only a few meters from his own. The first time he saw the construction, he’d begged his mother for one for himself. She gave it to him on a birthday, many years ago, and didn’t leave the thing for days.

 

The stairs to the Kim’s tree house, or just Minseok now, don’t look as worn down as his. He guesses Minseok hasn’t let it rot.

“Sehun?”

 

He definitely scares the kid since he jumps and clutches his chest like he’s just seen a ghost. “Jesus Christ.”

 

“Only Kris is ok, you know. Only my disciples call me Jesus,” Kris jokes.

 

Sehun smiles just enough to make Kris follow along.

 

“I brought you some food.”

 

Sehun fidgets as he looks at the plate. “Uhm… I’m actually a vegetarian.” He gives Kris an apologetic smile.

 

“Oh.” Kris feels all kinds of stupid now. “So, that’s why you barely ate anything I cooked.”

 

“I’m sorry, I should have told you sooner. I just didn’t want to upset you. People here seem very keen on eating all kinds of meat.”

 

“Sehun, I don’t want you to feel like you can’t tell me stuff because it might upset me. I’m a big boy, I can take it.”

 

Sehun nods and Kris pats him in the back reassuringly.

 

“Oh my god, I made you eat fish that one time,” he adds.

 

“It’s alright,” Sehun tells him. “I won’t die because I ate one tiny piece of fish.”

 

Kris groans and apologizes again. “I’ll keep that in mind from now on.”

 

They grow silent as they stare at the wilderness outside the wood construction.

 

“I can see the tree house and your house from here,” the boy comments.

 

“Yeah.” Kris smiles. “Growing up, we used to have sleepovers and do secret missions from these things,” he tells Sehun, who looks surprisingly interested. “We would use paper cup telephones to communicate until Kyungsoo’s dad gave me walkie-talkies this one Christmas. We spent about a week up in the trees then. Minseok, Jongin, and Yixing, since he’s always trailed after Minseok like a puppy, in here and me and Kyungsoo over there.” He points at the falling boards of what used to be a floor.

 

“Sounds like fun,” Sehun says earnestly. “I never had anything like that.”

 

“You didn’t have a yard?”

 

“We lived in a flat when I was younger and I was always surrounded by nannies. As soon as I was old enough Dad sent me to boarding school,” Sehun explains. “I never really had mates and my nannies don’t exactly count.”

 

He looks glum and Kris feels bad Sehun never got the chance to do the stuff he did. Kris’ mother was always a catalyst when it came to trying out new things and making new friends, but Sehun’s mother died when he was very young and he doubts his father was much of a father to Sehun, much like he wasn’t much of a father to him.

 

He suddenly has an idea. “You know, I think I still have those walkie-talkies somewhere in the basement.”

 

 

He never in a million years would have thought that at his age he’d be playing war with his British brother, four of his best friends and someone likely to join them as such. They divide the teams by house, Kyungsoo loyally following Kris, and Yixing putting his arm around Minseok’s shoulders, giving them a superior look. Kris grabs Junmyeon’s jacket before he could sneak off and drags him towards his team.

 

“You’re so going down,” Yixing mutters and then it’s on.

 

By the time his neighbors begrudgingly surrender, Minseok is sweating buckets, Luhan is on the floor heaving, Jongin is complaining about shady moves and Yixing is gulping down a bottle of water faster than he’s ever done in his life.

 

“I’d forgotten how much fun this was,” Minseok says, adjusting the baby monitor on his belt.

 

“It’s a whole lot more fun when you win,” Kyungsoo declares and Luhan gives him a sad look.

 

“I wanted to win,” Luhan tells them. His competitive side always comes alive during these things.

 

“You always want to win. You even made changing Lilly’s diapers a competition,” Jongin laughs.

 

Kris only grins. Not just because he had an amazing time, but because Sehun had smiled and laughed more this past couple of hours than in the past few months. Now he’s leaning against Kris’ shoulder, swiping his forehead and catching his breath.

 

Out of the corner of his eye he can see Junmyeon looking at them and smiling to himself.

 

Kris walks to him and puts his arm around Junmyeon’s shoulders once everyone had gone back inside the house. “Thank you,” he whispers close to Junmyeon’s ear. He can’t ignore the slight shudder in Junmyeon’s body so he laughs and drags him inside.

 

-

 

Somehow, some way, Kris runs into Junmyeon the following week at the diner across the school. He’s waiting for his order to be ready when he feels a hand on his elbow.

 

“Morning coffee run?” he asks Kris. He leans on the counter to ask for a coffee for himself.

 

“Busted,” Kris answers.

 

“Dropped off Sehun already?”

 

“Just now.”

 

They get their coffee at the same time and Kris pays for Junmyeon’s. Junmyeon attempts to argue but Kris doesn’t take no for an answer so Junmyeon gives up with a smile. They walk to a table at a nicely lit corner of the place as the man thanks him for the coffee.

 

“Aren’t you supposed to be at school, if you don’t mind me asking?” He’s still not entirely sure what Junmyeon does to him. He feels nervous but also comfortable. It confuses him.

 

“I actually had my last day Monday,” Junmyeon tells him with a grin. “I _am_ a therapist so the only logical move was to have my own practice and now I do.”

 

“That’s pretty amazing. When did that happen?”

 

“I’ve been working on it for months now. Didn’t want to jinx it so I kept quiet about the whole thing.”

 

“I’m really happy it worked out for you, then.”

 

“Thanks. Working at the school was fun but you can only deal with bratty preppy kids for so long, you know,” he explains. “Not that everyone’s like that, but–”

 

“No, I get it,” he laughs. “I used to go there, I know how those kids are.” Kris suddenly realizes something. “Does that mean I won’t see you around anymore?” He asks hoping to god he’s not flushing like a high schooler. He could just punch himself.

 

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” he winks.

 

“That’s so cheesy, man.”

 

They both laugh and talk and smile for too long and then they realize it’s way too late so they rush back to their usual business. Kris feels something settling in his stomach that he could grow accustomed to easily. A good feeling he’s been yearning for too long. He’s been unwillingly lonely for enough time, he thinks.

 

-

 

Winter arrives with below zero weather and relentless snow. It falls without mercy outside his window which makes Kris think about his mother and how she loved winters filled with hot cups of cocoa and a fire warming up her skin.

 

“What are you supposed to do when it’s too sodding cold outside to even pick up a football,” Sehun complains from the couch he is currently hogging. Kris is forced to sit on the floor of the TV room with a book in his hands. Maybe he should get an armchair or something.

 

“We used to play hockey out in the lake when we were kids,” Kris tells him. “Mr. Kim was the coach of a local kids’ team. He taught me, Minseok, Kyungsoo and Yixing one winter and we played for the team until we graduated school.”

 

“Never thought about going pro?” Sehun looks out the window at the vast expanse of white.

 

“Minseok had the skills to do it but chose the road of architecture instead. Me? I’m more of a basketball kind of guy.”

 

“Do you still play it?”

 

“What? Hockey?” Sehun nods. “Not in a while, no.”

 

“Oh.” Sehun drops the topic but Kris can see there’s more to it than he’s letting on. So, on a whim, he stands and heads for the attic in search if his old hockey gear he’s sure doesn’t fit him anymore.

 

“Let’s go,” he tells Sehun as he nearly drops a stick on his head.

 

“Right now?” Sehun seems surprised but his smile is undeniable.

 

“Yeah, right now.”

 

The lake is frozen enough for Kris to teach Sehun how to play. The skates are a bit small for his feet and it’s awfully cold outside but they end up staying on the ice for hours, without caring about anything but the black puck going back and forward.

 

“Mate, you suck!” Sehun shouts after he scores for the twentieth time.

 

“Shut up,” Kris fights back unable to keep a straight face. He can’t say anything to defend himself since Sehun is mostly right. He does suck. “When it gets warmer I’m gonna teach you basketball. We’ll see who sucks then.”

 

“Bring it.” Sehun pounds his chest and Kris chases after him.

 

Sehun lets out a squeak he’d deny later on but Kris hears it loud and clear. He skates towards his brother as the teen runs away from him yelling about old men and their poor physical state.

 

“What are you guys doing it’s nearly dark out!” They hear a yell from the snow-filled dock. Junmyeon stands there, clearly cold and very amused.

 

“Shit,” they choir and skate to where the man is.

 

“Didn’t realize about the time,” Kris tells him as he throws some snow on Sehun’s head.

 

“Stop, you wanker,” Sehun says between fits of laughter.

 

They dust off the ice and snow as they walk to the house.

 

Once inside, they settle in front of the fireplace to warm their frozen bodies. Sehun sits on the couch, taking up most of the space again and Kris decides to sit on the floor right next to the coffee table. To his surprise, Junmyeon sits by his side. Kris hides his face behind his coffee cup as their thighs brush.

 

“I think Sehun fell asleep,” Junmyeon whispers a few minutes later.

 

He turns around to see a sleeping face supported on the armrest. He only hopes Sehun won’t drool on the thing. “We’ve been out on the ice all day. He’s probably really tired,” Kris tells him. He has his hands around the hot mug, basking in the heat it provides.

 

“Jongin asked me to stop by but forgot to tell me he had a date,” Junmyeon explains.

 

“Oh.” Kris hadn’t even thought about why Junmyeon had come over. Maybe because he didn’t care if he didn’t have a reason, he was just happy to see him.

 

“I’m sorry to stop by without notice–“

 

“No, no. It’s actually nice to have you around.” Goddammit, he’s flushing. “I mean, Sehun’s fun and all but, you know.”

 

Junmyeon gives him a knowing smile and nudges him a little. “I’m really happy you two are getting along, though.”

 

“Yeah,” Kris agrees. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without your help.” Kris sees a slight blush creeping on Junmyeon’s cheeks.

 

“I barely said two words to him on the school’s hallway, Kris,” he smiles gently. “You guys just needed time.”

 

They don’t say anything else for a while; they just sit there and watch the fire in front of them.

 

Kris really wants to sit closer, maybe put an arm around Junmyeon’s shoulders, run a hand through his hair and tell him how good he looks today, all flushed from the cold that make his cheeks turn pink. Instead, he straightens his back and clears his throat. “I guess you came here for nothing then, since Jongin is out,” he says.

 

“If that was the case then I would have left a while ago.”

 

He feels it now. The way Junmyeon is intently looking at him out of the corner of his eyes. Now or never, Kris thinks as he leans closer to the man and puts a hand on his cheek. “I see,” Kris manages to verbalize.

 

It’s Junmyeon who closes the distance, meeting both their lips. He’s little shy at first but Kris answers to the kiss with eagerness. They don’t go far, not with Sehun right behind them nearly snoring in the couch, but it’s nice and it’s comfortable, like they were always meant to embrace each other like this.

 

“Ew,” Sehun groans. Kris and Junmyeon are snapped back to reality. They both blush profusely at being caught. “Can’t you two wait until I’m out of the room before you get into each others’ pants?” He gets up and heads to the kitchen but Kris can see him smiling anyway.

 

-

 

Snow covers every inch of the ground and Kris feels happy he works from home, even though he’s constantly distracted by something Sehun says or does. He still has to dig up his car every morning to drive Sehun to school, but he’s not alone. Minseok and Luhan keep him company by digging up their own cars to head to work. “Lovely morning, eh?” Minseok says and Kris just snorts getting snow out of the entryway.

 

It’s been a couple of days since he and Junmyeon kissed but he’s been either too busy or too dumb to call him. He’d left late that day after the hours flew by once again. Kris was feeling incredibly hopeful until he started overthinking everything. He just has no clue as to what to say to him now. Should he ask him out on a date or maybe talk about what the kiss meant? Maybe he should wait for Junmyeon to take the first step. Or maybe he should just call him and ask him. He gets a headache only thinking about it.

 

“Can I go to Chanyeol’s house tomorrow after school?” Sehun mutters snapping Kris out of his thoughts. It’s already late afternoon and Sehun’s just finished doing his homework.

 

He’d made it a habit to set up his stuff on Kris’ office and do his work sprawled on the floor of the room. Kris doesn’t really mind and Sehun usually picks up everything after he’s done. He guesses Sehun gets lonely all alone in his bedroom just like Kris does alone in this house. He thinks that maybe a part of him had forgotten what it was like to not be alone.

 

“Who’s Chanyeol?” Kris asks, curious. He takes his eyes away from his computer and sees Sehun is looking at him expectantly.

 

“A friend from school. Tyler’s throwing a party and he invited us and Zitao,” he explains.

 

“Who’s Zita– Never mind. Sure, I guess.” Kris fixes his eyes back on his writing. “I just thought we were going to catch that movie,” he says not looking back up.

 

“Oh, bollocks, I forgot. I’m so sorry, Kris,” Sehun looks apologetic. “I’ll just call him and tell him I can’t–“

 

“No, no. Go. I’ll just ask Kyungsoo or Yixing to go with me. Go party with your friends.”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Sehun, I’m not about to force you to go see a movie with your brother. Go have fun with your friends.”

 

“Thanks,” he smiles.

 

Kris would be lying if he says he isn’t disappointed. He’d bought the tickets over a week ago and was kind of looking forward to the outing. However, Sehun is a teenager and teenagers go out with their friends not their old hermit brothers.

 

-

 

When Friday comes, Kris finds himself alone in his house sort of missing Sehun’s company and his dumb laughter. He’d grown used to having a noisy kid playing videogames or raiding the fridge for food. Especially now that he’s been buying things Sehun actually enjoys.

 

He still has the movie tickets and he doesn’t want them to go to waste. He searches through his contacts to ask someone to come along with him, but Yixing is probably with his new girlfriend and Kyungsoo had gone to visit his brother on the other side of the country. Minseok and Luhan have date nights on Friday and he’s not about to interrupt them.

 

Before he knows it, he’s already calling someone he didn’t intend to and, to his luck, they pick up right away.

 

“Hello?”

 

Shit. He nearly drops his phone as he gathers the courage to answer. “Hi,” he blurts when he gets hold of the device.

 

“Kris?” Junmyeon sounds surprised.

 

“Uh, yeah. It’s me.” There’s a knot in his stomach and he feels so stupid for doing this. “I was just wondering what you were doing tonight,” he says.

 

“I was thinking of staying in, actually,” Junmyeon tells him.

 

“Never mind. Pretend I didn’t say anythi–“

 

“Where are you? I’ll meet you.”

 

Kris face breaks into a smile as he sets up a meeting spot and hangs up. Maybe luck is on his side today.

 

They watch the movie together. It’s an action flick filled with a timely soundtrack and several explosions. Junmyeon seems to be enjoying it, that’s for sure. At some point he ends up with his arm around Junmyeon’s shoulders and it feels nice.

 

When the movie’s done, they exit the theater into the cold night. They buy hot chocolate from a nearby food cart and walk down the street. The sky is clear for the first time in weeks and the stars fill it beautifully.

 

“I thought you’d forgotten about me,” Junmyeon says as he sips his drink.

 

“I’m sorry. I just– I can be an idiot sometimes,” Kris admits sheepishly.

 

“I can see that.” Junmyeon doesn’t look mad. Kris feels like the biggest dick on the planet. “Maybe we can change that,” he whispers as he stands in front of Kris on his tiptoes and reaches his mouth.

 

Kris gets the hint and closes the distance grabbing the back of Junmyeon’s neck and kissing him sweetly. It’s easy enough to get Junmyeon to part his lips and Kris’ stomach overflows in happiness.

 

He’d been so scared after they had kissed for the first time at his home. He was scared of messing things up for himself and for Sehun, and for Junmyeon. He was scared of doing something wrong and losing Junmyeon as a friend or as the something else he’s been wanting for quite some time now.

 

“I missed you,” Junmyeon confesses when they part their mouths to catch their breaths.

 

“Me too,” Kris adds. “So much.”

 

They kiss some more until their fingers are stiff from the cold and their cheeks are flushed. “Should we go somewhere?” Asks Junmyeon.

 

“Let’s go to my place. Sehun’s at a friend’s.”

 

They head on home and Kris feels like a teenager by how excited he is, not because he’s taking Junmyeon home but because spending time with Junmyeon is something he maybe yearns for. He hasn’t dated in so long and these past couple of years have been hard on him. His mother had died and he welcomed a brother he never thought he’d meet. Romance was right at the bottom of his list.

 

Neither of them wants to rush into anything and so, when they get home, they just lie next to each other and kiss. Kris feels he could kiss Junmyeon forever and never get enough.

 

He gets a text from Sehun telling him he would spend the night at Zitao’s and he sends one back telling him to take care and be responsible, although he knows Sehun is a smart kid.

 

“Can I ask you something?” Junmyeon lies comfortably on the couch, half on top of Kris, his head tucked under Kris chin while he holds him close.

 

“Anything,” Kris answers.

 

“Why do you live in such a big house alone.” He draws odd patterns on Kris’ clothed chest while Kris tangles his fingers on Junmyeon’s hair.

 

“What do you mean alone? Doesn’t Sehun live here too?” Junmyeon gives him a look that says ‘you know what I’m talking about’. “My mom died a few years ago. She left the house for me.”

 

“Why didn’t you just sell it?”

 

“I can’t.” Kris sighs. “She loved this house. I love this house. I love living next to Minseok and Luhan. They’re my family. Selling it would be like giving it all away to a stranger. I just can’t.”

 

Junmyeon hums. “It _is_ a beautiful house, I wouldn’t be able to leave either.”

 

Kris kisses the top of Junmyeon’s head and nests his cheek on his hair. It smells nice.

 

“Did she know?”

 

“What?”

 

“That you like men?”

 

“She did. She told me as long as they made me happy I was free to love whoever I wanted.”

 

Junmyeon is quiet for a bit. He sits back, leaving a cold spot where his body was pressed against Kris’. “My parents want me to marry a pretty girl and stop putting the family to shame.”

 

Kris’ stomach knots. He doesn’t know what it’s like to be around people who don’t accept who he loves. “What do _you_ want?”

 

Junmyeon lowers his head for a minute and then looks at Kris. “I want you.”

 

Kris takes Junmyeon’s face in his hands and kisses him on the lips, on his nose, his cheeks, everywhere. “You are definitely cheesy.”

 

They laugh and kiss and fall asleep in each other’s arms, enjoying each other’s everything.

 

- 

 

When morning comes, Kris is woken up by footsteps downstairs.They’d somehow ended up on his bed, but only for sleep purposes. He gets up, careful not to wake up Junmyeon and slides into a hoodie. It’s a very cold morning.

 

“Sehun?” He calls as he walks down the wooden stairs. “Is that you?”

 

“Hey, Kris,” Sehun greets from the kitchen.

 

“How was the party?” He asks. He pours himself a glass of water as Sehun makes a sandwich. He offers Kris one but he refuses.

 

“It was ok,” Sehun answers placing the things he used back on the fridge and pouring himself some orange juice. Kris thinks he looks a bit off. Not hungover, that’s for sure. Just off.

 

“Are you ok?”

 

“Kris?” Junmyeon comes into the kitchen. “Sehun, hey.”

 

“Hi. Uhm, I’m just gonna go to my room.” Sehun takes his sandwich and heads to the door. “See you guys later.”

 

“Is he ok?” Junmyeon asks Kris when the boy is out of sight.

 

“I’m sure he’s fine. I’ll talk to him later.” He kisses Junmyeon. “Want some breakfast?”

 

“Can you even cook?” Junmyeon looks skeptical.

 

“Hey, I’m an amazing cook,” he argues. “I’ll show you.”

****

 

Kris and Junmyeon spend the rest of the morning lounging in the TV room couch still clad in their pajamas (or Kris’ pajamas in Junmyeon’s case) and too lazy to move out of their makeshift cocoon of blankets.

 

“What are we gonna do for lunch?” Kris asks him as the credits for the movie they were watching start rolling on the flat screen TV.

 

“How about pizza? We can get Sehun to choose the ingredients,” he suggests. Kris gives him a small smile, as he holds onto Junmyeon’s body even tighter.

 

“We can do that.”

 

He is about to go wake up Sehun and get his cellphone to order when said boy makes his way into the room with a sheepish smile and messy sleep hair.

 

“Hey,” he mutters as he takes a seat on the floor by the couch. He still looks tired from his outing the day before, and Kris wonders what happened to make him act the way he did that morning. “Uhm, did you guys have lunch already?”

 

“We were just about to order some pizza,” Kris tells him. “Wanna pick the ingredients?” The fact that they might be eating pineapple and cucumber pizza is overruled by Sehun’s growing smile when Kris hands him a piece of paper to write down what he wants.

 

After calling, Sehun settles himself next to Kris’ legs on the floor as they wait for the delivery boy. They start watching another movie, one that Junmyeon chose, and Kris nudges Sehun head now and then just to annoy him.

 

“I’m sorry about this morning,” Sehun whispers a few minutes into the film.

 

Kris sits up, throwing an extra blanket on top of Sehun’s head. “Did anything happen at that party?”

 

“Some bellend was snogging the girl I like,” he confesses.

 

“Uhm, can I get a translation, maybe,” Junmyeon chuckles and Kris and Sehun share a look before laughing along.

 

For the first time in a long time, that feeling of loneliness that he hated but that followed him wherever he went slowly starts to fade. It fades each time Junmyeon kisses him, whenever Sehun smiles or Lilly giggles, every time his friends get together and all they do is laugh at anything and everything.

 

He wishes his mother were here to see it, to witness how his life has started to become better even he if he still misses her with all his heart.

 

-

 

It’s the end of the winter when Kris gets an angry call from his editor saying he needs to hand in a draft by the end of the week.

 

Kris is not a lazy man by any means. He works hard and he gets recognized for it. However, his draft sits on one of his many computer folders, untouched.

 

To add up to everything, Sehun seems to be more quiet than usual lately and it scares Kris that there’s something else going on that he doesn’t know about.

 

That afternoon, they are in Kris’ office and he feels this is the perfect opportunity to settle things with his brother. He turns off his computer so he doesn’t have anything that distracts him and shifts around the room to sit next to Sehun on the floor. He should get an extra desk for him. He makes a mental note to go shopping for one this weekend.

 

“Hey, Sehun,” he says with a small poke to his shoulder. “I wanna talk to you about something.” He leans on the wall next to the door and stretches his long legs before him.

 

“Yeah?” Sehun doesn’t take his eyes away from his notebook but Kris knows he’s listening.

 

“Are you ok? I mean, I thought we were ok? Is it maybe Junmyeon? Or something at school?”

 

Sehun’s head snaps to attention. “Why? Are you not sure about this arrangement anymore?”

 

“What?” Kris frowns at his brother’s question. “No, that’s not it at all. Sehun, you need to tell me when something’s bothering you. Don’t keep it all up in there, ok?” He taps Sehun’s head as he says it and Sehun smiles faintly.

 

“I know,” he assures him. “I just have loads of school work, that’s all.”

 

This makes Kris relax a little and he let’s out a breath as he stands up. “I’m gonna go meet Junmyeon for coffee, wanna come?”

 

He sighs before going back to his homework. “Nah, wouldn’t want to interrupt.”

 

“C’mon, you would never interrupt us, it’s gonna be fun.”

 

“I can’t,” he says. “This bloody paper is due Monday.”

 

“Ok,” Kris ruffles Sehun hair with a sigh. And Sehun gives him a tiny smile “Eat something, ok? There are left overs in the fridge.”

 

“Sure.”

 

He goes over to meet Junmyeon not exactly sure if things with Sehun are as good as he tries to make them out to be, but he can’t beat the words out of Sehun like his mother couldn’t beat them out of him. In lots of ways, they are incredibly similar.

 

“I guess blood runs deep, huh?” Junmyeon jokes as he sips his coffee. They are sitting on a bench on the park downtown. There are a few kids playing around the already melting snow, laughing and running without a care in the world.

 

Kris chuckles before nudging Junmyeon. “You’re the therapist, give me advice.”

 

“Teenagers are wild creatures, Kris. He’ll tell you when he’s ready,” Junmyeon says as Kris throws his arm around his shoulder to keep some warmth from escaping. “Or he’ll just blow one day and tear your house apart. Let’s hope it’s not the latter.”

 

Kris sighs deeply. Junmyeon grabs his chin with his free hand and moves his face to connect their eyes. “Worry is not a good look on you, Mr. Wu.” He kneads his thumb in between Kris’ eyebrows to make the frown fade.

 

Kris takes Junmyeon’s hand away and leans in for a kiss. Junmyeon is lenient below his larger body and Kris loves the way he wraps his neck with his arm to push him closer.

 

“I really like you,” Kris splutters between breaks to catch their breaths. Junmyeon kisses him harder, teeth clashing and lips reddening.

 

“I really like you, too,” he says. Kris might as well feel like he’s flying. This is a feeling he hasn’t had in years and he missed it so much it hurts a little.

 

They say goodbye after a few hours of talking and kissing and sharing, and Kris goes home feeling like a little kid again. The small date was enough to leave a smile on both their faces.

 

When he gets home that night, he feels like celebrating for some reason, so he heads to Sehun’s room to tell him they could get take out, or anything he likes, but the boy is nowhere to be found.

 

He looks out the window and sees a figure out on the dock. It’s freezing outside at this time and he can’t think of a reason why Sehun would be out there in this weather. It’s dark already, the natural light having left a while ago.

 

He puts his jacket back on and goes outside to see what’s going on.

 

“Hey, kid!” He shouts as he walks over. When he gets close enough, he stands beside the boy looking out into the lake. “It’s freezing, get inside.”

 

“I’m fine,” Sehun tells him. He’s shivering a bit but otherwise seems ok. “Go back inside.”

 

“What are you doing here?” Kris kneels down to put his arm on Sehun’s shoulders and transfer some heat. “You ok?”

 

“I told you I’m fine, I don’t need you to baby me, ok?” he says quietly. He starts standing up and Kris follows the motion with a groan.

 

“I’m not–“

 

“You’re not my father, I’m fine by myself,” he all but mutters with a sad looking frown in his face.

 

“Sehun, where is this all coming from?”

 

“Nothing. Forget I said anything.”

 

“No, Sehun. We need to talk about–“

 

“I said forget it,” he says as he starts walking over to the house and slips a bit because of the snow.

 

Kris is left confused, standing there in the cold. When he regains his senses he follows the trail Sehun leaves in the snow back to the house in a hurry. He’s worried he did something wrong that might have messed up their frail relationship and he’s scared this will be it for them because he’s not sure he could live like this. This phase was supposed to be done with.

 

He goes to his office as soon as he goes inside after hearing the phone ring from the room. He suddenly sees the mess on his desk and takes the moment to start organizing his papers as he hits the speaker button and sets his phone on the wooden surface.

 

 _“Have you read any of my emails?”_ his editor almost screams at him over the device.

 

“Writing me angry emails isn’t gonna make me write any faster, dammit. I don’t have time for you to lecture me,” he says as he scans paper after paper.

 

 _“I don’t care if this little brother of yours takes over all of your time, if you don’t get me a final draft in the next two weeks we’re in deep trouble, Kris.”_ His editor hangs up after that and a worry settles in Kris’ chest.

 

“You try and deal with an angry teenager,” he mutters to no one after he’s pocketed his cellphone. He groans as he messes up his carefully styled hair.

 

Sehun suddenly enters the room and picks up the forgotten books on the floor. He gives Kris a look he can’t decipher and then leaves without uttering a single word.

 

“Shit,” Kris says. As he slouches in his desk chair, ruining his posture.

 

He’s about to go after him to apologize or do anything he can to fix this because he can’t let all these months go to waste over something he doesn’t even know about. If this is going to work, Sehun needs to know Kris is here for a reason, not just as a brother but also as a friend he can trust.

 

He stands up, ready to go to Sehun’s room when he gets an e-mail from a person he hasn’t heard from since that day last spring when he asked for him to take in Sehun for a few months.

 

_“Yifan,_

_Please let Sehun know that I have sent the guardianship paperwork for you to sign. I’ve been sending him emails for days now but he is not answering. Make sure to have them looked at by your lawyer. I’ll make sure to send the rest of his belongings in the next few days._

_Greetings.”_

“What the fuck,” he utters.

 

He stares at the message for the longest time before putting the pieces together. Sehun was not going back to England, apparently.

 

That, Kris didn’t know.

 

Is not that he doesn’t want Sehun to stay. No, that’s not it. In fact, he’d be more than happy to let Sehun stay for however long he likes. But he does remember that one summer he found a letter from his Dad telling his mother to not contact him since he never intended to have children and the checks he was sending were more than enough. He remembers how it felt to be rejected by someone that’s supposed to be a pillar in your life. Now his dad has gone and basically done the same to his brother and it saddens Kris to a point he wants to call this man who doesn’t deserver to be called a father and tell him what a piece of shit he is.

 

After pondering for a while on what exactly to do, he makes something to eat and takes it to Sehun’s room in hopes of having a talk with him. He needs to let him know that he’s not a mind reader and unless he tells him what’s going on, he’ll just remain clueless. He makes sure to use things he’s willing to eat and things he also really likes and that Kris had spent hours searching for. Apparently this town is not vegetarian in the least.

 

When he gets to the teen’s room, however, it’s empty. No note, no messages, no texts. He looks out the window hoping he’s at the dock again but the thing is void of any people, only snow adorns it.

 

“Goddammit, Sehun.”

 

He leaves the food back in the kitchen as he fights his urge to call everyone he knows asking if they’d seen his brother.

 

He doesn’t want to end up in the center of town looking for an underage boy like a controlling father, because he isn’t the kid’s father anyway. He’s his brother, a person he should trust and confide in, someone that hides his secrets and that he goes to whenever he’s upset. He’s not the one who should set rules or curfews or make him do his homework and clean his room. But his father technically dumped Sehun on him and now he’s in charge of a teenager he wasn’t supposed to grow attached to. But the fact of the matter is that he did, and now he’s worried sick the boy is out there without a proper jacket or without having eaten anything.

 

He spends half the night pacing around the house hoping Sehun calls or texts while calling and texting anyway and when none of that seems likely to happen, he picks up his keys to just drive around town to see if he catches a glimpse of him.

 

He’s going down the stairs, grabbing his jacket and keys on the way, when he hears the doorbell go off. He looks at the clock on the wall that reads ‘3:00am’ as he makes his way to the front door.

 

“I’m so sorry,” Junmyeon says with a clearly wasted Sehun supported by his shoulder. “He called me mumbling about you being mad and his dad doing something but I didn’t really understand much.”

 

Kris takes Sehun from his arms as he goes back inside the house in a hurry. Sehun starts muttering nonsense after Kris sets the drunk boy on the living room couch.

 

“He was scared, Kris,” Junmyeon tells him from behind him. He grabs Kris’ arm and turns him around.

 

“I got an email from my dad today,” he confesses. “I think he wants me to be Sehun’s guardian. He’s quitting being a father or some twisted shit like that.”

 

“I think you two need to clear up a lot of things.” Kris buries his head on Junmyeon’s shoulder as Junmyeon hands go up and down his back in reassurance. “I should go. It’s late.”

 

“I’ll call you tomorrow?”

 

“You do that. Maybe we can catch dinner or something. The three of us.”

 

“Yeah. I’d like that.”

 

Junmyeon leaves after a kiss and a promise he’ll be back the next day.

 

Kris takes Sehun to his room and takes off his shoes and jacket so he can sleep better. He pulls the covers and adjusts the pillow as he supports Sehun’s weight with one hand.

 

“I’m sorry,” Sehun whispers so quietly Kris thinks he might not have heard if he weren’t so close. He sits up straight on the bed, a little wobbly from the alcohol and Kris settles by his side to hold him steady.

 

“We can talk about it tomorrow.”

 

“I’m sorry we’ve got such a shitty man to call a father,” he says with a few wild tears running down his face. He lets Sehun’s head fall on his shoulder with a muffled sob.

 

His only thought is to smooth his messy hair in the back of his head for all the time it takes for his tears stop. When he falls asleep, Kris carefully settles him on the bed and by the time he places some aspirin on the nightstand and a few bottles of water, he’s exhausted.

 

He shuts the curtains and places a bucket by the bed just for good measure and goes back to his room. “Don’t do this to me again, kid,” he whispers as he leaves the bedroom even though he knows no one will hear.

 

It all comes crashing down on him that very second. The thought that in less than a year Sehun had gone from a stranger to one of the most important people in Kris’ life is too overwhelming. He thinks of what might have happened if Sehun had just gone off by himself and gotten into some sort of accident and it terrifies him.

 

Thoughts come crashing into him like waves from a tsunami and he can’t help the rebel tears that fall from his eyes as he angrily wipes them away. His father doesn’t even know the great kid he’s just giving away. It makes him even angrier that Sehun probably spent all this time waiting for his dad to call him and say he could go back home.

 

Sleep doesn’t come easy, his mind running wild while he tries to shut it off and close his eyes.

 

He wakes up the following morning with a thundering headache and shivering since he had kicked the covers to the floor. He gets up, making sure to put on a hoodie and some thick socks to fight the cold kitchen, and he makes his way to make some breakfast.

 

He realizes the kitchen is occupied when he smells the freshly brewed coffee from the hallway. He sees Sehun’s puffy, red eyes as he enters the room. He looks completely and utterly hungover.

 

“Did you take the pills I left–“

 

“I did,” he grimaces as he offers Kris some coffee. “Aren’t you mad at me?” Sehun asks looking embarrassed.

 

“I am,” Kris tells him. “But I’ll leave the talk for later.”

 

Sehun takes a deep breath looking relieved as he takes a toast into his mouth. “I’m really sorry, Kris. I didn’t know what I was thinking.”

 

“We all do dumb shit, Sehun. I was so drunk once, I dived into the lake in the middle of winter and ended up with pneumonia.”

 

“I guess it runs in the family, then,” Sehun jokes and Kris is happy to see him going back to his regular self. “I’m sorry I acted like a knobhead.”

 

“I’m sorry we have a douchebag for a father,” he tells him. “I need you to tell me something, but you have to answer honestly.” Sehun nods and then winces at the sudden movement. “Are you happy here?”

 

Sehun looks down at the floor. “I am,” he says looking very conflicted. “It’s just– I’m not good at all this expressing your feelings rubbish.” He takes a deep breath. “I wasn’t– I didn’t expect to be, I guess. I came here thinking that maybe if I was away long and far enough, dad would see that he missed me and, I don’t know, maybe start acting like a dad. It sounds horrible, I know.” There are a few wild tears streaming down his face that he wipes away quickly. “But he didn’t. It just made him think it was ok to hand me over to someone he’s never actually met. He made me realize I’m just as disposable as his assistants. Then I get here and see that, even though you look exactly like him and that I was afraid you were like him too, you ended up being so different. I was afraid that, if he called, I wouldn’t want to go back.”

 

Kris frowns and lowers his head. “I had no idea, Sehun.”

 

“But what I didn’t realize is how much more difficult I’ve made things for you. My dad was right, I’m not good enough and I just ruin everything. I just don’t want to screw up what you have and you haven’t even finished your book because of me and I just ruin shit all the time–“

 

“Sehun, don’t you even think for a second that you’ve ruined anything for me,” Kris tells him. He grabs Sehun’s shoulders and looks at him straight in the eye. “If not for you, I seriously would still be that pathetic writer who locks himself up and barely says hello to his friends. Because of you, my house is not empty anymore. I met Junmyeon only because you were here in my life. There are so many things that you’ve made better and a few angry calls from my editor won’t ever change that.” Kris wipes more tears from Sehun’s face as he leans in to kiss his forehead the way his mom used to when he was a little boy. He remembers how it made him feel better.

 

“Listen,” he continues as he presses Sehun flush into his chest. “Dad,” He sighs. “He left us. He left my mom and me back when I barely understood what that meant. He was a asshole to my mom and he was an even bigger one to you. You don’t have travel across the globe to make him realize you are worth something, and if then, he’s not able to figure it out, he’s not someone you should be around. You don’t have to be anyone else to be loved, kid. You are just Sehun, my kid brother who gets straight ‘A’s without trying and who loves videogames and says he’s a vegetarian but eats barbecue flavored chips. That’s the little brother I know and love. But, if you feel like you’re not happy here, then there’s nothing I can do, Sehun.” Kris feels his throat tightening. He can’t show Sehun how much he actually enjoys having him around because this is not about him. It’s about a boy who’s lost almost everything in this world, who needs to feel at home, even if it’s not here, with Kris. Sehun needs to make a choice and Kris desperately wants him to stay.

 

“I don’t want to go back, please don’t make me go back,” he holds on to Kris shirt as he wraps his arms around his brother.

 

Kris let’s out a breath he had been holding for too long. “I don’t want you to leave, you idiot. I want you to stay. I’ll sign any papers if that means you’ll get to stay,” he tells him with a chuckle.

 

He can feel more than see Sehun’s grin and he thinks that Junmyeon’s theory proved to be correct somehow. He’s just thankful Sehun didn’t tear the house apart.

 

-

 

Spring comes with warmer weather and the constant visits of Chanyeol and Zitao after school. He doesn’t mind the presence of two more kids in his house. In fact, he enjoys having more people around, especially when he catches the glances between Sehun’s friends and he knows they are here partly because they can be themselves without anyone saying anything.

 

Junmyeon stays over more often than not as well, usually choosing to spend his time with Kris and Sehun instead of going home. Sehun seems to get along wonderfully with him and Kris couldn’t be happier it all turned out for the best.

 

Every now and then, he gets checks on the mail that he tears into pieces and throws into the garbage can. He doesn’t need any of it, he thinks, he can provide for Sehun in better ways than in money. Plus, his latest book has been selling exceedingly well.

 

“Remember that first day when I decked a bloke?” Sehun reminds him as they watch a movie together one Saturday afternoon after a game of basketball out on the driveway.

 

Their hockey sessions had ended long ago since the lake was in its full liquid form again, only to be replaced by occasional basketball practices that showed Kris was in fact better at it than at hitting a puck with a stick.

 

“And you got punched back? Yeah I remember. I also remember you wouldn’t talk about it,” he answers as Sehun hits him lightly in the arm.

 

“Well, Chanyeol and Zitao were caught snogging in the chem lab and this wanker kept calling them horrible names, so I popped a few teeth out,” he proudly tells him while munching on a few chips.

 

“Is that kid still attending the school?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“Good.”

 

“By the way, my friend Jongdae from back at my old boarding school asked me to go over to his house for the summer,” he comments as the movie reaches its climax.

 

“Wait,” Kris says. “The entire summer?”

 

Sehun smiles. “Uh huh.”

 

“Well, I guess it’s ok. Where’s this house, exactly?”

 

Sehun stands up pretending to go grab more chips but sneaks out of the room as he screams, “Majorca!”

 

-

 

Sehun leaves a Tuesday afternoon at the beginning of the summer. Kris, after speaking to this so called Jongdae’s parents, decides it’s fine if Sehun spends these three months with them since he hasn’t seen his friend in a year.

 

“You are like a mopey giant, you know that?” Luhan tells him one morning some two months later when he leaves Lilly with him to go run errands downtown. “He’s coming back, you drama queen.”

 

“Shut up,” he punches Luhan in the arm. “And I’m not mopey.”

 

“He’s like a big teddy bear,” Junmyeon says coming from the hallway. “He has a tough exterior but is all mushy inside.”

 

“He oozes feelings and shit. It’s kinda gross,” Jongin adds from the living room couch.

 

“Says the kid who cried watching Tangled,” Kris shoots back holding a giggly toddler in his arms.

 

“That movie was beautiful, you dickwad.”

 

“Sure, sure.”

 

“How is the object of your moping, anyway? Having a good time?” Luhan asks as he arranges Lilly’s things on the fridge. He puts bottles and frozen meals inside.

 

“He’s doing great,” Kris answers. “He sends pictures all the time and we Skype a lot.”

 

In fact, Kris gets emails from Sehun every Sunday. He tells him how his days are going and how amazing the weather is. He talks about Jongdae and his family and how they are planning on convincing Jongdae’s parents to let him go to their place for winter break. He also says he misses him and his breakfast and timely snacks, and Kris jokes about wanting to have him around only for the food. He never forgets to ask about Junmyeon, and Minseok and Luhan and the guys, and says he hopes Lilly hasn’t forgotten about him.

 

“Religiously,” Jongin stage whispers. “He’s like my mom when we were at summer camp.”

 

“I clearly remember you crying because Minseok forgot to call that one day when he was in Europe,” Kris hisses at him. “And why are you spending so much time in here, doesn’t your brother live next door?” He's not really mad, Jongin has been a constant presence in his life along with Minseok and everyone else. He feels better with just having them around, but Jongin's easy to taunt and Kris likes to push him over the edge sometimes.

 

“Admit it, you love having me around,” Jongin smiles as he flutters his eyelashes cutely.

 

“Shut up.”

 

“I should get going,” Luhan announces a few minutes later. He stands before Kris and kisses Lilly’s cheeks a thousand times. “Bye, baby girl. Daddy loves you so much.”

 

He waves at everyone and reminds Jongin to call Minseok later. Minseok never did grow out of babying his little brother. He does it with Sehun, too. His big brother complex is never-ending.

 

Junmyeon takes Lilly from him and leads the way to the backyard. They have a special spot for her, tucked under the shade of the biggest tree filled with toys and trinkets. It was Junmyeon’s idea to set it up, knowing that Luhan had gone back to work and Minseok was incredibly busy at his and Lilly not being able to get used to the nanny that smells like old people and cats.

 

“I should get back home tonight,” he says as he settles Lilly on the padded puzzle floor. “I haven’t been there in a while. The landlord must think I died or something.”

 

Kris hums as he takes a beer and offers one to Junmyeon. “Maybe you could just stay here.”

 

“But I would run out of clothes and then I would have to go back all the time and it's far away–“

 

“For someone so smart, you are kind of dumb sometimes,” Kris chuckles as he places a hand on his boyfriend’s cheek. The title had been settled a while ago after Kris grew some balls and just asked Junmyeon if he wanted to be one night in late July. “I mean you should move in.”

 

“Are you serious? What about Sehun?”

 

“What about him? He’s my brother, he’s not my kid,” Kris tells him. “Plus, it was kind of his idea after he realized that I kept using his socks because I kept lending you mine.”

 

It’s been a long time coming, he thinks. Sehun was more than happy to welcome Junmyeon in the house. “Just ask him,” Sehun had said one night during one of their Skype sessions, exasperated. “He won’t say no.”

 

Junmyeon’s only response is to stand on his tiptoes and kiss Kris full on the lips while running his hands through Kris’ hair. “Ok,” he says as he breaks the kiss.

 

“Ok?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“It was about goddamn time,” Yixing yells sitting next to Jongin in the couch. “You owe me 200, brat. Pay up.” He stretches his hand at Jongin, grinning mischievously.

 

Jongin whines loudly. “No fair, you were conspiring against me with Sehun, you cheater.”

 

“Not my fault you didn’t think of it before I did.”

 

“When did he get here?” Kris asks and Junmyeon just shrugs.

 

“Your friends think of your house like it's theirs,” he says. “It’s cute.”

 

“Our house. It’s ours now.” He kisses Junmyeon again, not being able to stop smiling.

 

“I’m gonna puke,” Yixing splutters as he pretends to heave on the carpeted floor.

 

Kris starts laughing while Junmyeon tucks his head on his chest, chuckling.

 

The moving is easy enough. Junmyeon never had much furniture and his clothes fit easily enough in the master bedroom’s closet. Kyungsoo comes over to help and Minseok directs the whole ordeal like his life depended on it.

 

“No,” he tells Kris when he tries to put everything in the kitchen just where it fits. “You need organization, you lazy ass. You can’t put the pots where you keep the cleaning stuff.” He ends up putting everything in order by himself while Luhan watches him with an amused smile.

 

“You are incorrigible,” Luhan sighs as he kneels down and places a kiss on his cheek.

 

Lilly runs around the front yard with Junmyeon after she took his hand and dragged him out where they could play. She began walking not too long ago so Junmyeon runs after her, keeping her steady when her balance fails her.

 

“Where’s Yixing? I thought he’d be here to help,” Kris comments as he flops his body on one of the chairs in the kitchen. Luhan sits in front of him trying to keep his smile at bay for some reason as he looks at Minseok with a knowing look. Minseok avoids Luhan, though, but his smile is not as inconspicuous.

 

“He was picking something up on the way,” Kyungsoo says with a serious face. Kris tries not to think too much of it, although he doesn’t remember a time when Yixing refused to help out or hang out. Especially when it was both at once.

 

He can hear Lilly start giggling loudly outside as Minseok stands up and goes to join them, Luhan in tow.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

“Oh, you’ll see.” Kyungsoo is smirking now.

 

Kris is a little afraid, maybe.

 

He tries standing up to go outside but Kyungsoo holds him by the shoulders. And that’s when his eyes direct to the shuffle of feet at the door.

 

“I came home early,” Sehun says as Kyungsoo slyly leaves the room. Kris looks out the window and sees everyone chatting animatedly, Yixing holding one of Sehun’s bags on his shoulder while Minseok takes a bigger one out of the trunk of Yixing’s car.

 

He looks at Sehun then. He’s taller than Kris remembered, and his hair is a light shade of blond now, not pink. His shoulders are broader and his voice deeper. He’s grown up.

 

“How–“

 

“I’ve been talking to the guys for the past few weeks. I told them I was coming home early, but I wanted it to be a surprise.”

 

He looks unsure, a bit like when he first got here over a year ago. But the thought disappears as soon as Sehun smiles widely at him, eyes almost vanishing on his face.

 

“You little shit,” Kris says as he walks the distance between them and gives Sehun a bone-crushing hug.

 

Sehun laughs loudly as he mutters barely understandable ‘I missed you’ against his shoulder. Kris punches him in the shoulder before sliding his arm across his shoulders. They look even more alike now, he thinks fondly.

 

“I see you finally manned up and asked Junmyeon to move in,” he comments as they walk outside to the rest of their friends. “It was about bloody time.”

 

-

 

They sit on the couch in the back yard, Junmyeon’s hand in his, as they wait for the barbecue to be ready. Minseok, as always, is in charge of grilling the meat. He even got some soy burgers for Sehun because he’s helpless when it comes to him.

 

“He’s like a whipped dad,” Luhan stage whispers Yixing who can’t help but laugh and pat Minseok in the back.

 

“I’m sorry. Who was the one who got him a water scooter for no reason at all?” Minseok argues.

 

“Ok, fine. We’re the same,” he says as he leans into Minseok. “I guess that’s why we’re so perfect for each other.”

 

Kyungsoo fake gags into Jongin’s glass as Yixing rolls his eyes.

 

“Where’s Sehun?” Kyungsoo asks.

 

Kris looks around until he sees Lilly chasing Sehun around the yard. She had not forgotten about Sehun in the three months he was away and she made him aware by not leaving his side the day of his arrival. Or the many days after.

 

Sehun throws himself on the grass while Lilly jumps on top of him laughing. He holds her high in the air as he sits up, hair all messy and filled with twigs.

 

“Lilly! You better start running!” Jongin yells at their direction and Lilly hides behind Sehun’s shoulders.

 

“Don’t worry Lilly, I’ll protect you!” Yixing joins with Kyungsoo in tow.

 

This, Kris thinks, is what life is all about. No loneliness in his heart and no big houses all to himself. A warm hand on his and a dumb laughter that fills his days with something he’d coveted for too long.

 

Everything seems so easy now, so simple. He doesn’t believe that a year ago his life was so different from what it is now. So much has changed and it took the presence of a kid that was as lost as he was. He sees Sehun out there and holds on to Junmyeon’s hand tighter.

 

He’s finally happy.

 

 


End file.
